[texbirds] Weekend Highlights from Crosby and Lubbock Counties

From: Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 19:05:47 -0700 (PDT)
Greetings All:
On Friday, 12 July 2013, I visited MacKenzie Park, easily finding the 2 
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks located earlier in the day by Ross Rickett.  
These birds are quite skittish and fully flighted.  They showed no evidence, 
morphologically or behaviorally, of being anything but fully wild birds.  This 
is the fourth record of the species for Lubbock County and adjacent Hockley 
County has had three records.  All of these records have occurred since 2000 
and appear to be part of the species's expansion northward and westward.

Also that evening: 1 injured Cackling Goose, 1 Canada Goose, 1 male Wood Duck, 
26 Snowy Egrets, 37 Cattle Egrets, and 26 White-faced Ibises at Leroy Elmore 
Park in Lubbock

On Saturday, 13 July 2013, Ross Rickett and I visited White River Lake in 
Crosby County.  We had no highlights on the way over or on the way back.  We 
hiked the woodlands north of the lake for five hours and then spent a couple of 
hours at the lake itself.  Highlights included 1 Neotropic Cormorant (AAH only 
- Ross got on it too late and could only tag the far away and flying away bird 
as 'a cormorant'), 1 Downy Woodpecker (AAH only), 7 Bell's Vireos, 10 Bushtits, 
3 House Wrens, 14 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, 2 Black-and-white Warblers (one male 
and one female in close proximity; the male occasionally singing, the female 
quietly foraging near the ground), 55 Yellow-breasted Chats (10 skulking 
females, 44 singing and spotted males, 26 loudly singing but unseen birds, and 
5 fledglings), 1 Field Sparrow (dang close to RR only but AAH finally heard 
this bird), 3 Summer Tanagers, 6 Indigo Buntings (1 female, 5 males), and 5 
male Bronzed Cowbirds.

Yellow-breasted Chats, Field Sparrows, and Indigo Buntings were all discovered 
to be breeding at this site back in 2002 or so.  Summer Tanagers were first 
documented breeding at this site in 2011.  Based on the timing of summer 
records and observations of birds carrying food items, Warbling Vireo, 
Black-and-white Warbler, and Yellow Warbler have been on our radar as potential 
breeders.  It is hard to interpret the seemingly connected pair of 
Black-and-white Warblers observed by Ross and I as anything but breeding birds 
but I suppose an incredibly early female migrant (in adult female plumage) and 
an incredibly early male migrant (in adult male plumage) could have found their 
way to the same willow - and the male could engage in territorial singing 
behavior while in migration - etc...


On Sunday, 14 July 2013, I casually birded my yard while getting things ready 
for the much-anticipated storm.  Refreshing the hummingbird feeders earlier in 
the day paid off - my first male Rufous Hummingbird of the season popped up to 
spar with the resident male Black-chinned Hummingbird.  Additionally, 2 Snowy 
Egrets flew over.

Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock

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[texbirds] Weekend Highlights from Crosby and Lubbock Counties

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